Establishing handloom brands out of indigenous fabrics
Binoy Munda is the Director of Munda Clothing based in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Fashion Technology, Apparel Fashion from National Institute of Fashion Technology, Bangalore. Thereafter, he worked in Tirupur as a Production Head. Further, he set up his own manufacturing setup in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha called Munda Clothing in 2010. The setup has earlier been involved in manufacturing only security uniforms but as time passed they collaborated with the handloom sector in tie-up with Boyanika, a weaving cooperative in Odisha. This collaboration in 2011 resulted in production of handloom products like kurtas, shirts, and kurtis. In 2014, Binoy started a retail outlet called Fabric House in Bhubaneshwar. It caters to all kinds of women’s fabrics. Also, it has an attached boutique to help with customised outfits. An exclusive retail outlet with Boyanika has handloom, designer wear, ties, women’s jackets and bags in their collection. Munda has also served as a guest faculty in National Institute of Fashion Technology and Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology and ATDC in Odisha.
His inclination towards sketching and drawing in school led him to the design field. Design to him is about innovation and creative thinking. His specialisation is in Fashion Technology. With his own manufacturing setup, he intervened in designing as well. His most memorable assignment at design school was related to geometry. His graduation project was about skill assessment of Karnataka state’s apparel manufacturing. His manufacturing setup is called Munda Clothing Pvt. Ltd in Bhubaneshwar. The setup has an MoU with the Odisha Government for selling their products at their outlet.
Munda had the opportunity to design the theme pavilion for Toshali Craft Mela organised by the Odisha government. In 2013, Munda was invited by the Governor of Odisha to design the dress of his khansama or chefs and caterers to be incorporated with traditional textile. In 2015, he designed the handloom menswear which had a stall in Toshali Crafts Mela. In 2017, he designed a kidswear collection in handloom which was exhibited in a fashion show at National Handloom Expo. In the pandemic era, masks were also produced and sold through Boyanika outlets. Kotpad collection, based on a vegetable-dyed fabric woven by Mirgan community of Kotpad village in Koraput district of Odisha is one of the speciality of Munda Clothing.
Long term vision of Munda is to set up a hundred and fifty machines factory and establish a handloom brand with mens as well as womenswear segment. The brand would manufacture garments out of the indigenous fabrics manufactured in India itself. A firm believer in creating contemporary fashion out of traditional fabrics rather than altering the traditional fabric altogether. He envisions a branding and packaging workshop for his community so as to raise their sales and bring in a simultaneous knowledge sharing. He wishes to document handloom fabrics of various indigenous communities of India in the near future.